Baking Extravaganza Review

I had such a peaceful sleep last night. This may sound weird, but I credit all my baking last night for that. For me, being in the kitchen is very therapeutic and relaxing. I hurried up getting ready, too, because I was pretty eager to eat my banana bread crock pot oats! I taste tested about a half cup last night so I knew what was waiting for me.

I added about a 1/3 cup of water before putting them in the microwave to loosen the mix up a bit. When it was hot, I splashed some unsweetened almond breeze on top. *sidebar: I found Almond Breeze for $1.99 last night! That’s $0.70 cheaper than what I normally pay!!*
If you are a batter-licker like me, these oats are for you. I savoured every single bite! I ended up with 6 1 cup-ish servings from this batch. I ran the recipe through Spark People and came up with this; 269 cal, 5.3 fat, 5.9 fibre and 8.1 protein! This kept me full for longer than regular oats, as well.
So, on to some picture’s of my baking extravaganza!! Here are some shots of the mini loaves I made. These are the strawberry applesauce/carob chip ones;
And these are the baby food prunes/dried fruit ones; One of each....
I sliced up one of each plus a dried currant one from the weekend and brought them into work. Everybody thought they were delicious and asked me to bring more. Pat on the back for moi!
When I got to the gym today the elliptical was in use so I hopped on the treadmill. I did 50 minutes which started out with 3 minutes of walking at 4mph followed by jogging at 5.3mph and ending the same as I started. My ankles were fine while going, but a bit achy when I got off so tomorrow will be a foot rest day for sure. Here are my stats:

Time: 50 minutes
Avg Hr: 152
Max Hr: 171
Calories Burned: 415
Distance: 4.3 miles

Before hitting the gym I ate my last 2 figs and some Parnoosh dates;

I was lazy with packing a lunch last night so I brought a can of Amy’s lentil soup with 2 of the Suzie’s Kamut bread sticks that I picked up on the weekend.
The bread sticks were to die for! I better make sure that jar of Nutella is very well hidden! They made excellent soup dippers!! They've got some pretty decent stats, too....
Strange for me, but I was full after maybe half the soup. I was sitting there eating it and suddenly I thought “why am I still eating this? I don’t feel hungry anymore.” I took one more spoon full and packed it back up to take home. I’m sure it will be fine to reheat again.

My post yesterday seems to have generated a lot of interest in fiddle heads!! I like my veggies on the plain side so I usually steam or saute them and tossed with olive oil/butter and S&P. They taste very similar to asparagus. I’m gathering that they can be quite expensive, so I’m extra lucky to be able to harvest as many as I want for free. I can see the cost, though as they aren’t the easiest to pick….I was ankle deep in water for most of the harvest….and are a pain in the rear to clean. The gathering part I love the cleaning not so much. I suck it up once a year though because they really are a treat! You can read more about them here.

I was a bit peckish later in the afternoon so I ate my fruit. This is one orange and 2 kiwi.
Dinner tonight was pretty fantastic. I sliced a pork tenderloin into chops and gave them a nice coating of Shake n Bake. This was served with spinach and sweet potato fries for me and a side of pasta for the fam. Here's my meal;
There's some Dijonnaise there for sipping, too! When we stopped at Knapp's on Sunday we picked up one of their marvelous pies....Strawberry Rhubarb Peach. Oh, yeah, it's as good as it sounds! I helped myself to a piece tonight.
So you can visualize the size of this piece, the pie was cut into 8 wedges. My hubby eats 2 at a time. Some may find this unfair but the way I look at it, the temptation will be gone that much sooner! :)

After dinner I took some shots on DS while he was in net. He bought himself some goalie gear on the weekend and is having fun with it. I think I'm the only chick on the street that plays ball hockey in the driveway! The movement is great for digestion! Once I've posted this, I'll be getting lunches and what not ready for tomorrow so I have zero interruptions while the Biggest Loser finale is on. I can not wait to see who wins it!! Go Tara!!! **WINK**

Bye for now!!